Everyone expected fireworks out of Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon at UFC 155 on Saturday night in Las Vegas, but no one could have expected the fight they got out of these two perennial lightweight contenders.

It looked like it might be an early night for Miller, who came out as aggressive as we’ve ever seen him, immediately unleashing with a flurry of punches, knees, and low kicks that quickly put Lauzon on the defensive.

Just two minutes into the fight and Lauzon’s face was a bloody mess, courtesy of Miller’s relentless punch combinations opening a deep cut to the inside edge of Lauzon’s right eyebrow.

The blood only served to further fuel Miller’s pace.

“I knew I was gonna have to give him everything I have if I was gonna put him away,” said Miller after the fight, but try as he might, he couldn’t put Lauzon away.

In fact, even though Miller kept up his assault into round two, Lauzon eventually turned the tables, reversing out of bottom position on the mat and nearly secured a leg lock. Missing the leg lock, Lauzon then went for a choke, but couldn’t secure that either.

Round three proceeded much the same, that is to say relentless, with Miller constantly plowing forward, throwing anything and everything he had at Lauzon, trying to put him away, but Lauzon taking it and firing back.

Lauzon jumped for a leg lock in the waning moments of the fight. Miller escaped, so again, Lauzon went for another choke.

Miller hung on for the final few seconds, lasting to the final horn, winning the fight on all the judges’ scorecards.

It was an amazing fight, mostly dominated by Miller, although Lauzon would never give in. Even when the blood poured from his face, which was most of the fight, Lauzon wouldn’t quit, and luckily, the doctor didn’t feel the need to stop it.

“I was hoping they wouldn’t,” when Miller was asked if he thought they were going to stop the fight due to the cut. “I step in here so the three people inside that Octagon decide who stops the fight, not the judges or the doctors.”

In the end, there wasn’t a stoppage, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in the MGM Grand Garden Arena or watching at home, that would complain.